Naturally Fall

In southern California fall doesn't seem to naturally arrive too early so we have to help it along or at least do our best in simulating the essence of fall. We do that through food, scent and color. During the Soap Challenge all I kept thinking about was incorporating the fall and winter season into everything I make. I came across these ingredients in the market and decided to start there.

Both of these ingredients have tremendous benefits for retaining moisture and fighting free radicals.

So many recipes include palm oil so when I came upon Red Palm Oil and thought it could make a really nice naturally colored fall soap. I did a little research and found it's extremely beneficial to the skin, full of Vitamins A, C, and E plus beta carotene. In addition to to the positive biochemical affects on skin it is a great moisturizer. Pumpkin Seed Oil is a luxurious oil rich in Vitamin E, zinc, Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids as well as antioxidants.

I thought goat's milk would be the perfect complement to go with the Red Palm and Pumpkin Seed oils, shown here are the oils melted down and mixed with Apricot Kernel, Coconut and Olive oils as well as rich Cocoa Butter

I didn't want any fancy designs, I just wanted the ingredients to present themselves.

I have to say, making the design on top is not as easy as it looks! I kept going over and over it, This soap has a delicious fall spice scent.

I loved the creamy fall color and decided not to let the soap gel (heat up too much and make the color deeper) but being relatively new to soaping and not knowing what to expect, while I kept playing with the spoon I noticed it decided to heat up anyway, right before my eyes. From top left clockwise, you can see the progression and by the bottom right picture I decided I better wrap it up so and insulate it overnight to hopefully completely gel and not just partially gel.

Several days later it's out of the mold, looks and smells just like fall.